The World Was Wide Enough
by shannyfish
Summary: Non and his people target those in leadership in National City to prove their power, launching the Myriad virus, and the Danvers sisters are caught in the middle of it all. Max and Alex struggle to keep each other and those they care about alive, while trying to find a way to save National City…and the entire human race before- #14 - Count Me In series
1. The Gala

_"Love doesn't discriminate  
Between the sinners  
And the saints  
It takes and it takes and it takes  
And we keep loving anyway  
We laugh and we cry  
And we break  
And we make our mistakes  
And if there's a reason I'm by her side  
When so many have tried  
Then I'm willing to wait for it  
I'm willing to wait for it"_

 _~ Wait for It from "Hamilton"_

* * *

The day started off all wrong and it didn't seem to get any better. She caught J'onn's look as she walked past with a folder, it said that he was concerned and that he wanted to talk. Sighing, she followed him without either of them exchanging words. "I'm having an off day…"

"Oh, I know…"

"Please don't send me home," Alex requested. That was worse than having a bad day. Her alarm hadn't gone off at all that morning, she'd gotten no coffee or food into her before getting to the DEO, and then she'd already been thrown around by a freaked out Ambler in close quarters. That wasn't counting the fact that she'd somehow tripped a wire and knocked the entire base's power into back up. She hadn't even told him that she'd somehow knocked her shin when they were in the garage, but she was fairly sure that he knew that just the same.

"I'm thinking that it might be better that I have you locked into a padded room for the remainder of the day."

She'd actually pondered that.

"I don't know what-"

"I'm not sending you home yet, Alex, but I do have a specialized mission," J'onn explained. "One that I'm not sure you're going to like…"

"Why?"

It wasn't like J'onn to try to sugar coat things. Normally it was like 'here's the mission' and 'go get it done' and she'd do it. It was as simple as that. He knew that she could handle herself and that she could complete her missions. Alex just hoped that it wasn't something that made the day worse. People said that bad things happened in threes and she was already well past that, so she was due for some good in her day.

"Senator Crane has requested that you patrol the charity gala tonight," he dropped on her.

Crap.

It just got worse.

"Benan-"

"She asked for _you_ , Alex," J'onn said gently. "Specifically."

The last thing she wanted to do was for her work day to extend until the end of the night with her babysitting a senator, which also required her to dress up and wear heels. None of it sounded like a good plan to her...especially with how her day had been going. Alex was half worried that she'd somehow end up with the senator hurt with how things had gone.

"I can go, if-"

"No," she said quickly with a sigh. "We need as many people on our side as we can get." And that was the truth. This was just a sacrifice that Alex would have to make. It likely wouldn't be so bad. "Do you have a guest list?"

"I do," J'onn said as he grabbed it off of his desk and handed it to her. "Cat Grant is on the list...so Kara will be there at least?"

He'd found the silver lining.

Alex stared down at the piece of paper and then sighed. She knew that she shouldn't be surprised. It was a charity gala. All of the most important people in National City and the surrounding area would be there of course. She just hadn't thought about the fact that she'd have to see him...not yet. Alex still wasn't sure if she could do it.

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"No," Alex said with a tilt of her head. "I think the world is wide enough for Maxwell Lord and I."

"What about National City?"

Alex sighed at that. "Do you mind if I take two dresses?"

"Kara?"

She smiled now. "Kara."

"Of course."

"You're the best."

"You'll let me know if there's a problem?"

"There won't be any."

* * *

"Stop fussing with it," Kara hissed as they entered the ballroom.

Alex couldn't help it, Benanti had switched out the dresses that she'd originally selected for herself and Kara (she was just thankful that the woman had switched them with the correct sizes). "I'm supposed to blend...be invisible," Alex whispered to her sister. "Nothing about this dress says that…"

"I told you, this is what happens when you have a limited wardrobe," her sister pointed out in amusement.

"Easy for you to say, you get to wear mostly black," Alex pointed out. Her sister was wearing a strapless black dress that at the knees changed into purples and pinks and then white as it hit the floor. It was gorgeous, though Alex wasn't sure how she'd do with how flowy it was, since she was having a hard enough time with her own dress. Before she could complain anymore, though, her sister pointed out a very sparkly Cat Grant and hurried off to her side. Alex sighed, this was not going to be a fun night.

Originally she'd picked out a green dress for Kara and a red one for herself, she hadn't cared if they were Christmas colors. Apparently when she was talking to J'onn (or some other time before she'd left the DEO), Benanti had likely been the culprit who had swapped the dresses. She'd kept telling Alex to choose a different one, but Alex didn't like to stand out...especially not when she was there as glorified security detail.

Once she spotted the senator, she started over to her, trying to remember not to stomp or march, especially since that didn't work so well in the heels she was wearing. Alex was just glad that there were so many more people that seemed to be wearing sparklier and larger dresses than hers. "Senator Crane," Alex greeted. "As requested."

"Oh look at how lovely you look," the senator almost gushed. "I told him that I wasn't sure you'd show up dressed appropriately...and yet...here you are...looking like Cinderella."

Alex blinked, trying to grasp what the senator was saying. "Who?"

"I owed Maxwell Lord a favor...and I'm afraid, my dear, you're here under false pretenses," Crane told her. "I'm sorry for it, but I didn't think it would be such a lie, after all, I'll be here...and I wouldn't mind an eye kept on me."

Covering her face, Alex sighed.

"It's really not anything to get so upset over-"

"It's not _that_ , it's...nevermind," she said after she dropped her hands from her face. "Of course, Senator...I'll be here...keeping an eye on things."

"Don't be _so_ cross with Max," the senator told her. "He pulled quite a few strings in order for me to even _consider_ doing this...so he must be _quite_ fond of you."

Perhaps too fond.

Pressing a smile forward, Alex just gave her a nod, all the while thinking of the words she was going to say once she saw him. She waited until the senator moved away before she started to scan the room. Desperately she wanted to seek out her sister and vent about what she'd just found out, but when she finally saw Kara it was obvious that she was busy with her boss. Sighing, Alex started to look for Max.

He would show himself, she was certain, especially after going to so much trouble to get her there. She'd moved around the room and had finally settled in a position where she could see both Kara and Senator Crane. Her sister had already seen her standing there, so it would be easy for Kara to come join her if she had the opportunity.

"Where are we? Have we done-"

Before Max could say anymore, Alex had him pressed against the wall. She'd done it in the most...nonviolent way she could think to do it. He'd been behind her, whispering in her ear, Alex hadn't needed to see his face to know it was him. Their bodies were close and he just seemed amused before Alex looked from left to right to see if anyone had noticed or if it had caused alarm. Didn't look like it.

Max cleared his throat and continued. "Have we done Italy?"

Glaring at him, she wondered if he really thought that somehow this whole thing wouldn't piss her off. "If you wanted to talk to me...you didn't have to go to such great lengths…"

"It was _worth_ it," Max insisted. "That color on your...is _spectacular_...I mean, I feel like you'd look absolutely breathtaking in anything, but Alex...you look like a _queen_."

And for a moment, she'd forgotten the gold embroidered dress that she was wearing. Sighing, she let him go and turned away. She was _still_ furious, but this really wasn't the place for that and he'd likely had expected that. "Why did you do this, Max?"

"Because it's been too long since I saw you…"

"I have-"

"You told me that I couldn't contact you in pretty much any way," he pointed out. "And I'm pretty sure that if I'd phoned your boss that he wouldn't have relayed the messages."

She looked over at him, her arms crossing over her chest. That was very true. That didn't mean that this was better or right for him to do. "I needed space."

"And _I_ needed to see you."

There was no way that she could ignore Max forever, she knew that...but she'd been doing a pretty good job thus far. "I just...haven't been ready."

"What are you waiting for? The end of the world?"

"Let's be serious...that could be tomorrow…"

"Exactly."

Alex couldn't help but smile at that response.

"Dance with me?"

"No," she said, a smile still on her face.

"Come on, Alex...live a little," Max told her as he held his hand out to her. "The world could end tonight for all we know…"

She was blushing now. Why was it that no matter how much Max seemed to piss her off, that that never kept her from smiling or blushing later on? He was a charmer, but Alex tended to see right through it. "I'm more concerned about killing myself trying to dance in this thing," Alex said as she held the skirt out with both hands. It really _did_ feel like she was dressed as Cinderella.

"I won't let you fall," he insisted as he kept his hand extended.

"Are you trying to make this some kind of princess moment?"

Max just grinned at that and she swore now he was blushing. "I already told you, Alex...if anything you are a _queen_ …" They just stared at each other for a long moment before he finally took a step forward and took her hand, holding it up between the two of them. "Now, _trust me_?"

She knew that she couldn't trust him.

She hated that she couldn't trust him.

This was just dancing, though, not her life. Well, not really. She was fairly sure that even if she started to lose her balance, that she could recover quickly especially with Max right there. So she squeezed his hand and gave him a nod. "Just this once…"

"Hopefully I'll change your mind," he told her, a bright smile spreading across his face as he led her towards the area where a few people were dancing. As they got to the point where they were more in the public eye, though, Alex grew a bit nervous. He pulled her close and her hands moved to where they should be situated as he started to guide her through the dance.

Alex drew in a breath as she took in the people around them. She knew most of them, important people...people whose pictures had been all over the media for years...and then there she was...this unimportant woman dancing with Maxwell Lord. This was _his_ world that she'd stepped into.

"What are you looking at?"

"People are watching us," she told him quietly as her head snapped back to look at him as they continued to dance.

Max just smiled at her comment. "Of course they are...they're watching _you_."

"Max-"

"Just dance with me, Alex," Max whispered as they continued. "Forget that the world around us exists for the _remainder_ of the song... _that_ would be enough."

And for the remainder of the song, she did that...she pushed out the thought of the eyes on them. She focused on his eyes and tried not to worry about her shoes catching on her own dress. As much as she didn't like the help, Max had kept his word and kept her from falling over her own dress and feet.

* * *

The night was passing and everything was going well, even between her and Max. She'd checked in with J'onn and let him know what had happened, but that she was still sticking around...just in case. Alex left out the part where she was actually having a surprisingly good time and that she was almost happy about the lie that had gotten her there in the first place. Kara had even seemed happy, apparently James had come to the gala and her sister had been off with him since Cat Grant had come and gone. Apparently she'd made an appearance and made the rounds and that was good enough. Alex was certain that Max would have normally gone that route if she hadn't been there.

"How's your dad?"

Alex just stared at him for a moment and then shook her head. This was a running theme with Max. He knew that she was on the phone with J'onn, but he still thought it was weird about how protective J'onn was of her. "Are you _jealous_?" she teased with a tilt of her head and a smile on her lips, determined not to let his comment ruin their evening.

They weren't in the actual ballroom because she'd needed to make the phone call, but she could see inside. Her eyes immediately searched for Kara and then Senator Crane. Both seemed happy and were fine. Alex's attention turned back to Max, a smile on her face. Maybe there had been enough time and space between the two of them.

Taking her hand, he brought it up to his mouth to place a kiss atop it, his eyes never leaving hers. "No."

"I am...having a good time," Alex whispered sincerely.

Still holding onto her hand, he just beamed and then twirled her. She allowed it, mainly because she felt less self conscious away from everyone. They were all alone and it was nice not to be surrounded by everyone, even if it was just for a few minutes. "May I have this dance?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust me?"

Alex shook her head a bit and blushed, not looking at him for a moment. As much as Maxwell Lord infuriated her, she loved this side of him. The side that made her feel like Cinderella and like she was an equal in a world that liked to remind her that because she was a woman...she wasn't. "I'm beginning to…"

"I'll take that," he whispered and pulled her back into his arms. They danced slowly, their eyes on each other the entire time. Alex realized that she'd missed this, the physical contact. It wasn't much, it was a simple thing, but she still missed it.

The world faded around them and Alex couldn't even hear the music anymore. She leaned in, intent on kissing him, their lips just an inch apart-

Crashing, followed by a thunderous sound pulled Alex out of the nearly perfect moment. Both of their heads snapped back to the ballroom as it erupted in noise. Her eyes searched for Crane and Kara. Both still okay. Whatever was going on, though, she couldn't quite see. Taking a couple of steps forward as she hiked up the skirt of her dress to pull her gun from the holster on her leg, Alex was quickly shown who had crashed the party as everyone seemed to back towards the longer walls on the left and right.

Non.

Kryptonians.

In the middle of the ballroom, Non and his people were holding a device that seemed to be made of glowing brightly colored crystals. She hadn't brought Kryptonite bullets, so her gun would do little but to escalate the situation...and possibly get people killed. She needed backup. There was still time. Her hands fumbled as she went for her phone, shoving her tiny sparkly gold purse into Max's hands. She scrolled until she got to the correct number and pressed to call it, but as she put it up to her ear, but then Non started to speak.

"Leaders of National City...thank you for making this first strike easy," Non said. "Enjoy the effects of Myriad." His speech wasn't anything grand, but it did give a sense of foreboding.

"Alex? Are you okay?" she heard J'onn say through her phone. She wanted to answer, but she was waiting to see what was going on, to be able to properly relay the answers to his questions, but what happened next hit them all fast. " _Alex_?!"

Everything that happened next felt like it did so in slow motion, but on fast forward at the same time. Alex watched as Non slammed the device into the ground, shattering the crystal all over the place, and a yellow-orange gas appearing and spreading out. "What the hell is Myriad?" Max questioned. A breath later, the people closest to Non and his people started to pass out. "Contagion," she heard Max mutter.

Alex was yanked back so hard that she dropped her phone and her heels were left behind on the floor where she'd been standing. She blinked and then saw that Kara was gone from sight, but it was only moments before Max shoved her into a closet nearby. He slammed the door behind them and started to stuff his jacket in at the bottom space between the base of the door and the smooth floor. Her gun dropped to the floor with a clatter and as she sucked in a breath, she realized that whatever Myriad was...whatever had affected everyone else in the ballroom...it had spread and she was also affected.

"Max," she whispered weakly as she felt her skin tingling and then burning. Alex was having trouble breathing and keeping herself awake. He looked back at her and she could see that he was feeling it as well. Her eyes kept slipping closed, but she kept fighting to open them again. "What's happening?"

Myriad.

Non had said Myriad.

Max had said contagion.

They were going to die.

Max moved to her, pulling her into his lap and cradling her in his arms. Alex watched as his skin seemed to pale and opaque plum splotches appeared. All she could think about was the future that they had thought that they were living...how Non and Myriad had wiped nearly every human from Earth. Was there some truth to that? Had the White Martian known about this?

"We're going to be okay," he whispered. "Stay with me, Alex." She stared up at him and wanted to believe him. "Just keep looking at me…"

"I called the DEO…"

"They're going to be here," Max told her and she could tell that he was feeling the effects more and more with each passing moment. "And Supergirl...she's going to save us…"

"We're in a _closet_ ," she reminded and realized that that was going to be the most ridiculous to find two people.

"They'll search _beyond_ the ballroom," he told her. "They're going to find us."

Though it could have only been minutes, the time felt like it had stretched on to hours. No one had come for them yet. J'onn _knew_ they were there, she realized, and he would have heard the words that Max had said before she dropped the phone. Kara had seen what had happened and Alex had to assume that her sister had saved James and hopefully the senator from Myriad, but Kara hadn't found them yet either (Alex was certain that her sister was looking for her).

"We're going to die," she whispered. That's how she felt. She felt like she was going to die and that whatever they'd believed before in that old DEO facility wasn't true, they weren't immune or something. She'd watched all of those other people just drop in the ballroom.

"No," Max told her firmly in his weakened state. "There has to be a vaccine or some- _something_ to combat it… We're going to be okay. _You're_ going to be okay. Just _stay with me_ , Alex."

There was quiet that stretched out between them and Alex started to let the blackness win.

"Doctor Danvers, you've got that face on again…"

It was weird hearing him call her Doctor Danvers and that caused Alex to open her eyes again and crinkle up her face in response. "What face?"

"The hot when he's clever face."

Alex huffed out a laugh. "This is my _normal_ face."

" _Yes_ , it is."

A grin spread across her face as she realized what he was doing and responded in the only way she knew how to. Alex played along. "Oh, shut up…"

If the world was going to end, if they were going to die there in that closet, at least...they wouldn't be alone.

"Not a chance."

* * *

TBC…


	2. Don't Stop

"Alex!"

She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision and at the same time...to force her own eyes to open and stay that way. "Kara…"

"Danvers! Answer us!"

Kara.

J'onn.

She was still in Max's arms and he was completely out. His face still looked pale and there were those plum splotches that made him look like death. Shakily, she reached out to check for a pulse. He was still alive, but she wasn't sure how Myriad would affect them...how much time they had. "Kara! J'onn!" She was certain that Supergirl and J'onn were the only ones out there, being aliens meant that they were immune to Myriad (or so they could assume).

The closet door was yanked off and J'onn was grabbing her before she could say anything about Max. She was cradled in his arms and though she had a million questions, she couldn't keep her eyes open long enough to do anything but rest in the knowledge that they'd been found...that they were safe.

"You're going to be okay."

* * *

"I don't care! You tell them that I _need_ access to a lab!"

Alex was exhausted, but the shouting wasn't helping any. As she stirred and she realized that she'd been asleep, her entire body ached with pain. She tried to stifle a cry, but it escaped as a sob just the same.

"Alex?"

Max.

As she struggled to push her eyes open and roll on her side, she couldn't just lay around, she thought as the events of the gala came rushing back to her. His hands were on her though as she finally blinked her eyes wide and awake. "Kara," she whispered. Her sister her first concern since she'd already known what had happened to Max...and he was also right there now.

"She's safe...Myriad didn't harm her."

Small comfort.

Alex pushed herself, trying to sit up, and finally Max helped her but still held her tight. "Any deaths?"

"Not yet," he said and as Alex studied him, she realized that he didn't look any better.

Looking around, she knew where they were. The DEO. Medical quarantine. "Is it contagious?"

"They don't know," Max said. "Better not to risk it."

"But-"

"There's an entire quarantine setup outside of the facility," Max explained. "I keep telling them that I need access to a lab...that I could help…"

"Max-"

"I can _help_ , Alex," he said and she could tell that it was more that he felt the want and need to do something. Like her, Max wasn't one to remain idle for long. They were both scientists and on top of that, Max had gone to med school. He had the background. He was right, his skills could be put to good use.

"So can _I_."

She thought that he'd welcome her help, but he just looked concerned.

"What?"

"I just...I thought I _lost_ you."

"I'm a lot harder to get rid of-"

"I'm not joking."

"You don't think I'm _serious_?"

"Alex-"

" _I'm not afraid_ ," she whispered. Alex reached out and caressed his cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut a moment later. There was pain, but it was manageable, she just hadn't expected it. It took her a moment and then she could breathe through it, she saw the worried look on Max's face. "I'm fine…"

"Yeah, that's what I was going to say too."

Alex smirked at that. "Have you seen-"

"Only doctors since we got here," he filled her in. "I saw Kara and J'onn back at ground zero… They pulled me out after they got you. They're probably working full time to ensure that everyone has been pulled from the building and put in the quarantine site outside."

"This is going to be _bigger_ than the gala, they _have_ to realize that…"

She realized in that moment that Max was just staring at her and it was different. It was like when they'd been back in that DEO facility...when they'd been brainwashed to think that the world had ended-

"Max," she whispered. "We're going to be okay…"

* * *

"You shouldn't be in here."

" _I_ shouldn't be in here? _You_ shouldn't be in here," Kara defended. "I thought you were _dead_ when we found you, Alex."

Alex sighed and rubbed her face for a moment and then reached out and held onto her sister's upper arms. She stared at Kara, she was tired and weary, and she knew that her sister was concerned...but she couldn't just stop. " _I know_ ," she whispered. "I thought that was it, too...but I _have_ to do _something_ , Kara. I can't just lay in a bed and _hope_ that _someone_ finds a cure… Non's not going to stop with the people he's already infected. I'm sure that we were just a test site. There's going to be _more_ and it's going to get _so much worse_...there's a war coming and we're in the middle of it."

There was a long silence.

"Have you finished transporting all of the other affected guests to quarantine?" Max asked.

They were all in the lab that J'onn had connected to their quarantine room. Unlike the rest of the infected guests who were outside of the compound in high security quarantine tents, they were actually inside the DEO. Whether that was because they were the first ones pulled from the gala and there hadn't been time for prep or something else, she didn't know. All she knew was that she vaguely remembered hearing J'onn yelling at people, but she didn't remember about what.

"Yes," Kara replied. "We're keeping our eyes open for another attack-"

"Oh, it's going to come," Max said quickly. "This was just a test. It was to target the leaders. To cause a panic. To see how effective it is."

Alex knew he was right, but right now she didn't have the energy to rein him back in because in all honesty they needed to have cool heads. They needed to focus on a cure and not dwell on what they couldn't stop from inside of quarantine. "Has...whatever this is...Myriad...has it been reported outside of the gala victims?"

"No," Kara responded. "Hospitals, urgent care facilities, and the public are all on alert."

Closing her eyes, she just nodded.

"Alex?"

Her eyes snapped open again at her sister's worried tone. "I'm fine-"

"You should be _resting_ …"

"No, no… Max and I need to be working on something," Alex said with a dismissive wave of her hand. The truth was she was absolutely exhausted. All she wanted to do was to turn off the lights, curl up, and sleep for days. It was like all the energy had just been siphoned out of her. "This Myriad thing isn't going to cure itself…"

She didn't miss the looks exchanged between her sister and Max. Kara hugged her, a little too hard, for a moment. "I won't be too far, if you need me." She glared at Max before leaving.

"See, she's starting to warm up to me," Max teased with a smile once Kara was out of their quarantined area. He was obviously trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, she could have just left me there in the closet...so, that's something, right?"

Alex allowed him a smile. "Sure."

"You're feeling the fatigue-"

"Let's just get to work, okay?" she said, trying to change the subject.

"Alex-"

And though she appreciated the soft tone he took with her, she wasn't going to have it. "If you're too tired, I understand," she said and moved towards the lab equipment. "You should get some sleep-"

Max sighed in response and she could hear him following her. "Yeah, there's no way in hell that I can sleep while-okay, tell me where you want me to start."

So, she told him exactly where she thought they needed to start. She told him where he already knew where to start because he'd already been working on it. Alex knew that he was just doing it for her. Right now, neither one of them could handle being seen as weak or remain idle. They both had to do something. It was just in their nature. Alex was just glad that there was a scientific problem for them to solve.

* * *

"It looks like it hits hard, but then it slows up."

Yeah, she was familiar with the hit hard part. The fatigue was the part that seemed to linger. Luckily Alex was used to fighting it, between her job and being a woman that was a hazard of life. "It also doesn't seem to be contagious…"

"I think that it still might be best to keep those people in quarantine...just to keep the panic down," Max said. "Imagine the mayor falling flat on his face and who knows what other symptoms will appear later...mass panic."

"Don't you think there's already panic?"

Max shrugged. "Your people are trying to minimize it."

"You have a lot of faith in them," she said as she stared at him. Alex was honestly surprised by his comment.

"I have faith in you," Max told her and was obviously trying to brush it off. "And from what I assume, you helped to train most of them...or you've worked with them all enough to know that they're good people."

"They are."

"So don't look so surprised in my faith in your people," Max said with a slight smirk. "In you."

Alex turned with her hands on her hips. She was pondering whether they should really risk it or not, leaving quarantine. Of course, they'd need approval from J'onn for it, but he'd see the evidence and there was no denying it.

"You're wondering whether or not we should actually leave here…"

Turning her head, she nodded. "It's still a risk. We don't know the full tour of symptoms. There could be other stages...we could become contagious…"

"You're right, but I'm really hoping that this Myriad nonsense isn't something that comes with pustules…"

"Yeah, I really would rather we skip anything like that…" He took her hand and she looked down at them before looking back up at him standing beside her. "We should wait it out a little longer at least…"

"We've been in here for hours...and we've been working and we're both exhausted," he pointed out. "We should sleep for a couple of hours and then get back to it. We have things running in the meantime anyways. Watching them run isn't going to speed it along."

It wasn't what Alex really wanted to do, but she knew he was right, so she gave into it and moved towards where the medical beds were. They'd be more productive when they got up if they slept anyways. Alex automatically just went back to the bed she'd originally woken up in and pulled the blanket around her as she laid on her side.

"You know, we could be good together," he whispered as he laid on his side on the other bed so that he faced her.

"Max-"

"I mean, in science… We should work together...in science related things...you know, when the world isn't ending...or when there's not some kind of alien contagion on the loose."

She smiled at that. "It's just a Monday around here," she joked.

Max shook his head. "Honestly, Alex, think of all the good we could do together at Lord Technologies…"

"That's the thing, Max," Alex told him gently. "I don't need to be in the light…"

"Alex-"

"I don't think that all of that makes you a better person, Max, unless you change yourself first," Alex reminded. "I don't need a legacy… I don't need money…"

"Everyone needs money."

"Not that kind," Alex argued. "Honestly, I just need my family and my job...that's all, Max."

"And what about me?" he whispered.

"I don't know," she replied honestly in a breath.

Max was quiet for a long moment. "If I could grant you peace of mind when it comes to us...to me...and if you could just let me inside of your heart…"

"Max-"

"I won't stop trying, Alex," he murmured gently.

Alex's eyes didn't leave his as they just lay there. It took her a long moment to process what he was saying and what that meant. All she could think was that they could both be dead tomorrow. But no matter how much Max screwed up, no matter how horrible of a person he seemed to be sometimes, Alex could see this spark of good deep down inside of him...and she liked to think that she brought that out in him. That she could make him that glimmer of goodness, if he could just learn to harness it.

"I won't stop you."

* * *

Alex didn't wake first.

But when she finally did...it felt like the world was spiraling out of control and ending. The voices were what woke her, they were trying to be quiet, but they still woke her. The conversation was not one that she knew should be heard when one was half awake.

"There's been a casualty."

"You're saying someone infected by Myriad has died?"

"Yes."

"I hope that someone documented the symptoms."

"Alex isn't the only scientist at the DEO, Lord."

"Well, no offense, but right now she's the only one that I'm focusing on saving."

It was quiet then, likely because J'onn had sensed her being awake and she had forced herself up into a sitting position. Alex wasn't surprised when Max didn't seem to care that she'd overheard that.

"Just...let me know if either of you need anything else," J'onn said and he was clearly uncomfortable being there with Lord.

Alex slipped off the bed, losing her balance for just a moment before regaining it. "J'onn, wait…" She looked between the two men and Max headed off to the lab area. The quarantine zone inside the DEO didn't give them a lot of room, certainly not much for them to have privacy, but she still wanted to talk to him.

"You okay?" J'onn asked quietly.

"Okay as much as I can be in this situation," Alex responded with a slight shrug. "But what Max said-"

"No," J'onn dismissed quickly. "I understand what he meant by it...and can I really blame him for worrying about you?"

Alex sighed and stared at him for a long moment. "Has it spread at all?"

"No, but there are others that were closer to the Myriad ground zero at the gala who look like they're barely hanging on," J'onn told her grimly. "We need something, Alex."

"Who is it?"

"That-"

"It matters…"

He looked to the side for a moment before looking back at her. "Senator Crane. The mayor. The gala organizer. They're all critical."

Senator Miranda Crane was just not a person that they could lose the trust of. They needed her so that they could keep the DEO going the way that J'onn had been running it since he'd taken over Henshaw's identity. Alex just nodded quickly and went over all of the things that she needed to do...everything she needed to try.

"Alex-"

"We're going to get ahead of this," she said, trying to be confident.

"Alex, I'm worried about you."

She stared at him for a long moment. "We're going to get ahead of it," she repeated. "I'll be fine. I'm worried about the _DEO_ now. We _need_ the senator. We also need to keep this thing from spreading and infecting any more people..." She fell silent for a beat. "Non is likely waiting to see if we can respond with any kind of vaccine or cure to it. See how long it takes us…"

They were both silent and then she was certain that he realized what she was about to say.

"Alex-"

"No," she whispered as she just stared at him. Alex pushed forward a sad smile. "I'm a DEO agent. I signed up for this. To put my life on the line for others. This isn't different."

"It is different."

"I'm a DEO agent. I'm working on a counter to a virus that was released by alien threats. I might be dying, J'onn, but I have time right now," she whispered. "And if things go sideways… I want you to know that I don't regret any of it… I just wish that I knew you earlier...and that Kara got to be herself earlier…" She was quiet again. "But I need you to make sure that my wishes, what's already in the system...I updated it...that that is seen to. I need you to promise me that. My mom can't have my death weighing on her, not like she held my father's for over a decade. Please, J'onn, promise me?"

"It won't come to it," he said firmly.

"Just the same…"

He gave her a nod. "I promise."

"Okay," she whispered. That was all she needed. She needed to know that he'd make sure that her letters and videos that she'd recorded would go to the right family members. She'd updated them, so it felt even more important now. "I should get back to work…"

J'onn pulled her close for a moment and pressed a kiss to her forehead before he left.

Alex watched him go and wrapped her arms around herself for a moment and just breathed. She didn't want to get negative, not right now. There was still so much to do and so much time that she felt like she still had. Bringing herself back to focus, she moved towards where Max was in the lab.

"You okay?"

She wanted to say 'no'.

"Fine."

"Alex."

"Why do you ask if you're not going to trust my answer?" Alex questioned as she raised an eyebrow.

He smiled at that. "That's fair."

"So, what do the results say?"

"Take a look…"

* * *

TBC…


	3. Exodus

"It's not a cure?"

"No."

"But we're all better," the senator said in confusion.

Alex decided that this was the point in which she needed to step in and speak. "Think of it like a half cure," she explained. "It's basically bringing your level from red to yellow. So, critical to basically...buying us all more time."

"But it's not going to fix it?"

"Not yet at least," Max spoke up again. "We need more time. We've seen Myriad run its course now, but from a test group of samples that I've run...I don't think that death is the end result in every person."

"You mean, that's it's not completely deadly?" Senator Crane questioned.

"Oh, it's deadly...some of us are just better at fighting it," Max went on. "Think Darwinism. Natural selection. Myriad likely will wipe out a majority of the planet's population if it's widespread. Only one out of the ten samples that I accelerated the process of seemed to fight the Myriad virus until it was expelled-"

"So, you're saying that only a bare percentage of the world's population would survive if the virus went world wide?"

"And that's not factoring in how many people would be left vulnerable to attack from the Kryptonians or those who decide to go the route of suicide after losing everyone they know or surviving humans just stupidly killing each other."

It all sounded so grim.

"But we're still working on a more...permanent solution," Alex put out there. "Which means that everyone still needs to remain in quarantine."

"But you both-" the senator started to argue.

"We used biohazard suits," she explained.

"Not everyone is as sick as we were."

"It seems that whoever was closest to the Myriad virus bomb received a larger dose of the virus and thus it hit their system harder and faster," Max put out there. "Agent Danvers and I were the farthest and so the progression isn't as...progressed."

"And we should get back to working on it," Alex cut in. "Because it won't remain that way for long...and what we gave you...it's just a stopgap."

"Of course," the senator said.

* * *

"You should take a dose."

She looked over at him. "If you think _I_ need a dose, then _you_ should be taking one too…"

He didn't argue. "I just-"

And she knew.

Alex moved herself away from the computers and over to the counter that they'd designated as their break station. She sat down and opened the mini fridge for a cold bottle of water. J'onn had made sure that they had absolutely everything they needed and he'd told her that Benanti had been insistent about including snacks that she knew that Alex liked.

She just felt like she needed to get something into her system. She'd eaten some at the gala, but it had been light snacking and now more than twelve hours had passed and that was all she'd had. "Come eat something, Max," she told him as she looked over her shoulder. There was no missing the fact that he'd already been looking over at her, pondering it. Right now, they needed their brains to work and their brains weren't going to function correctly without fuel...which meant eating. The virus was already sabotaging their systems without them helping it.

With a rather large sigh, he joined her. "You know we should eat something more substantial than snacks."

"There are protein bars," Alex pointed out seriously.

"We need like burgers or-"

"I don't think I could eat anything that heavy right now, I don't even want to have this," Alex said as she pulled a bag of pretzels her way.

He reached over and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. "You're feverish… You should-"

"Max-"

"Take the dose, Alex. I'll take one, too, I just figured that I wouldn't take it if I didn't feel like I needed it in case someone else out there in that quarantine tent needed it."

She understood that because it took time to manufacture enough doses of the stopgap measure that they'd come up with and there were a lot of officials in that quarantine tent. There had already been one death and that was enough to cause panic. They needed to do everything they could in order to keep everyone calm until an actual cure could be found.

Alex's phone went off and she glanced at the caller ID. It was her mother. Again. She ignored it and instead sipped on water.

Max reached out for Alex's phone. "I'm going to pick it up-"

"I will end you," Alex snapped and dropped her hand down over his. She sighed and covered her face. "I'm sorry… That was out of line. I just-"

"She's probably heard about the gala," Max pointed out. "She just wants to make sure that you and your sister are safe. Just pick up her call, Alex. She's already called you five times. She's going to get on a plane-"

She didn't want that. Alex wanted her parents to stay as far away from Myriad and National City and Non as possible. Right now, their adventures in Peru were extremely comforting to her. She grabbed her phone and stared down at it for a moment before calling her mother back.

* * *

The tapping on the glass caught Alex off guard. She jumped at the sound and turned to see J'onn standing there. Her attention quickly turned to the feed.

National City news.

"Crap," she heard Max mutter.

The TV closed caption said that they had reports of cell service and wifi no longer working, that it started in National City but it appeared to be spreading beyond.

Though loss of cell service and wifi wasn't a huge deal to them right now, Alex was certain that most people felt like it was a sign of the end of the world. Most people didn't know how to function without their smart phones for calls, texts, and internet needs. "That's going to put people into more of a panic than anything else…"

"No kidding."

Alex turned to look at J'onn. "Non?" He nodded. "Something more is going on…"

"No one's spotted him, but it's not just a malfunction...it _has_ to be Non."

There was a crash and clatter and Alex looked over to see Max on the floor. Immediately, she moved to his side. Neither one of them had broken down and taken the stopgap measure. Kneeling at his side, she checked for a pulse before rolling him onto his back and checking him over. "Max? Max? Come on, open your eyes," she pleaded. Her voice dropped and her tone hit utter sadness. "Please don't leave me alone… I can't do this alone, Max."

His eyes slowly started to open and Alex realized that she was crying, she pushed away the tears and pushed forward a smile. He looked like crap. They'd both looked like crap, but Max looked like Myriad was really kicking his ass. "Are you married, Alex?" he whispered.

A bubble of laughter left her chest and she replied back the next line. "Are you asking?"

"Yes."

"Yes," Alex told him brightly as she wiped away more tears. No matter how much Max had screwed up since she'd met him (and even before then), Alex had never once wished death on him. Knowing him better, knowing the goodness inside of him, it was the last thing Alex had wanted for Maxwell.

"No, hang on...did you think I was asking you to marry me? Or-or-or asking you if you _were_ married?"

"Yes."

"No, but was that yes...or _yes_?"

" _Yes_." Alex could tell that her playing along had brightened him all the more. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. He was burning up. Squeezing her eyes shut, she held the kiss and tried not to show her upset. Max had been so concerned about her that he'd neglected to take care of himself.

There was another knock on the glass. "Alex?"

Opening her eyes, she looked over to where J'onn was standing, he was obviously waiting to know if Max was okay. "We're okay," she told him. "We're just going to have to take the stopgap-"

"Then do it," J'onn said quickly. "Anything else?"

"Something with electrolytes," Alex told him. She and Max had been so busy in the lab and had only taken one time to really eat so far, but they needed to stay hydrated and they needed to get Max's fever down. Alex was unsure if the stopgap would help with the fever or not. "Gatorade...Powerade...something like that…" Her attention turned back to Max and she sighed as she cupped his face. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Forgive me?" Max offered weakly. "This thing is likely to get worse before it gets better...and if I happen to not make it through-"

"Don't say crap like that," she chastised quickly and lightly smacked his arm before helping him up into a sitting position. "We're all going to get out of this just fine… No one else dies because of Myriad…"

"That's fine, but just in case…"

"Max-"

"Please, Alex?" he pleaded. Their eyes exchanged words in silence. "Please?"

She ignored his pleas for a moment as she moved to get to the stopgap. They'd be the last priority, but that needed to change now. There were already two doses ready in syringes for them. She administered one to herself first before moving to Max to give him his. After a moment of watching him, how much he looked like he was suffering, she pressed another kiss to his feverish forehead. "You are forgiven," she whispered. "Always and completely forgiven."

* * *

As the hours passed, the news didn't get any better.

"He released the Myriad virus…" Max said, pulling them both from their work. They stared at the screen for a long while. "Fuck!"

So far, the Myriad virus only seemed to be contained in National City, but there were already reports that the lack of wifi and cell service had hit world wide. Now this… But that wasn't all. The next headline had to do with water contamination. No one was supposed to be drinking or showering or anything...everything needed to come from purified bottled water.

"What the hell is their endgame?" Alex muttered angrily.

"World domination tends to be a thing."

She looked at him and then back to the television. It only took a moment of Alex really taking that in before she was working once again on a cure. Whenever they felt like they'd found it, something didn't test out right…

They were _so_ close.

"How you doing in there?"

"We're hanging in," Alex said, but was more concerned about her friend. She'd just brought her and Max some food along with about six Gatorades. "How are you and Alice?"

"The boss has okayed us going to the Harewoods and bringing the kids and his wife to the DEO… Blacked out windows and all that, but Myriad is affecting everyone in National City and everyone would think a little better if we had them here."

The thing with the DEO was that it didn't leave you a lot of time for life outside the job. Harewood had a wife and kids and then Adler and Benanti had Charlie. No one else that she could think of even had a steady boyfriend or girlfriend. Life wasn't easy chasing down alien threats, but Alex had always felt like it was worth it. "That's good," she said with a nod. "I'll talk to Henshaw about making sure that the kids are monitored closer and that they get the stopgap medicine."

Benanti nodded. There was no bubbly peppiness that often drove all of them a little crazy even though someone had to be the bright light in the DEO (besides Kara). She was quiet and Benanti was _never_ quiet.

"Charlie's going to be fi-"

"It's not Charlie exactly," she said and then sighed. Benanti looked around. "The boss turned off the news feed because it's getting really bad out there and he doesn't want you and Lord to feel pressured anymore than you already do…"

"How bad?"

"There's been fires set to food stores… I'm not talking about just grocery stores...but any place that serves food or stores emergency food…"

Alex blinked. "Non?"

"Kryptonians… As far as I know, they still haven't spotted Non again."

"What else?"

For Benanti to get so quiet and solemn looking, Alex knew that there had to be more. "There's a major storm heading in our direction… Henshaw's dispatched a team, well...he went with the team...that's why he's not here…in order to investigate what looks like the source of the storm. They don't think it's a naturally occurring force...not this time at least…"

"Crap," Alex muttered and turned away for a moment. She looked down at the Gatorades for a moment. "We don't need these-"

"Oh no," Benanti said. "You do need them. You're going to find the cure." She got fiercely serious now. "You're going to find a cure and keep my daughter alive, Alex. You hear me? If you have to think about _one_ thing instead of the entire population, then think of Charlie…"

Charlie.

Pretty much everyone in the DEO knew Charlie Benanti and the Harewood kids. Davis and his wife hosted fairly regular barbecues and get togethers, which was the closest many of them got to socializing outside of work. Of course, that was mostly the only socializing they did besides maybe going for the occasional drink. Drinking was often a necessity when it came to their job.

"Okay," she breathed and gave Benanti a nod. She could do that. She could focus on solely curing Charlie. That little girl reminded Alex so much of Kara, always a bright smile and so full of love and sunshine.

"I think I might have found something," Max said from behind.

"Go on," Benanti said and moved away.

Alex just gave a nod before turning to him. She just hoped that whatever it was that he had that it was promising. Things were just getting worse and worse-

The entire base rocked and Alex went careening into a desk. She gripped it and held on for a moment. It didn't feel like an earthquake, but apparently Max thought it was better to be safe than sorry and dragged her under a metal table that they both could barely hide under. It shook and Alex couldn't help but feel completely and utterly helpless as she watched people scream and flee on the other side of the quarantine barrier.

When it finally stopped, everyone slowly moved out of place and immediately turned towards the news, which had been turned on. The sound was loud enough that even from behind the glass, Alex could hear it. The pictures, though, were enough to speak volumes. The video that they seemed to have was of what looked like fire raining down from the sky all over National City.

Max was the first to speak. "This is starting to feel biblical..."

"You would think that they would have demands-"

Kara zooming around National City as Supergirl cut off her own sentence and Alex gasped. Worry filled her and all she wanted to do was to protect her sister. She knew that Kara was Kryptonian and had super powers, but this was one of those times where Alex wanted to be able to be out there being the one to keep her safe. Right now, Alex couldn't do anything more than work and hope and let science find a cure.

The power flickered.

The base shook again for just a moment.

The power flickered again.

Suddenly Non's face was on the television, he'd obviously hijacked the feed. "Citizens of National City...you will be the first to understand what it truly means to suffer." And Alex knew that he wasn't kidding. "Soon, so will the world…"

Crap.

Max was holding her hand, she realized suddenly.

"The Myriad virus that I have already infected you all with is just the beginning… I've already started to distribute the second phase of the virus… We'll see just how adaptable you fragile humans are...and how well you do without your comforts of electricity...and the sun…"

The entire base went black.

"At least he didn't say that he was going to kill all of the first born?" she heard Max say as he squeezed her hand.

Alex knew that he was only trying to keep things light. Max didn't cope well with serious situations. She didn't respond to his quip, but waited a moment...but nothing happened. She pushed out a shaky breath. "It's going to be okay," she whispered to herself as much as she was saying it for Max to hear.

"How are we going to come up with a cure and distribute it to everyone without power?"

Crap.

Crap.

Crap.

Fuck.

She could feel herself shaking. The weight of the world was suddenly on her shoulders. Max pulled her into his arms and she allowed it. She clung to him and squeezed her eyes shut. They didn't have to save everyone, she reminded herself, just Charlie. They just needed to find a cure for Charlie...but now...now Non had sent out what Alex could only assume was a stronger, uglier, and deadlier secondary Myriad virus.

"We're going to figure this out," Max told her, suddenly the voice of hope and reason.

And she knew he was right.

They had to.

Pulling back from him, she sighed and looked around. Her eyes had begun to adjust to the dark and she realized that no matter what, now everyone was affected and there was really no reason for _any_ of them to be in quarantine. "We need to make sure that everyone is safe...that the base is secured," Alex said. "People need radios…"

"I hope they're charged."

"Yeah, me too…"

People were moving around outside of the room with flashlights and Alex heard the door swing open. "Danvers, let's go!" came Adler's voice. "You're out of time out."

Alex held tight to Max's hand and dragged him along with her. Right now, they all needed to stick together. They had no idea what was going to happen, but one thing was for sure...they all needed each other. "Has anyone checked the Pipeline?"

"Didn't that Cisco kid say that it stays locked down even during power outages?"

"Supposed to."

"No rampages aliens so far, so I think we're okay," Adler said.

"I already checked it," came Lucy Lane's voice. "Everything is secured. It looks like we even have power to drop down the barricades throughout it, but I thought we might want to hold off in case we need to barricade ourselves in the middle."

"What about the quarantine camp topside?" Alex questioned as they all moved together towards where she knew the control station was.

"Already being evacuated into one of the storage areas down here," Adler filled in. "Lara's on it."

"What about Henshaw? His team?"

Now Vasquez could be heard. "Last I heard, he was trying to disable the device that they believed was generating that artificial storm that was headed our way…"

Crap.

The storm.

"How long until it hits?" Lucy asked. "If they couldn't destroy it or divert the storm?"

"Two hours."

Two hours.

"We have a lot of work to do," Alex said.

Everything came to a halt, though, when there was a scream of a single word.

"Mama!"

Everyone looked in the direction, flashlights finding the source, little Charlie Benanti was running towards them. They were breaking rules, but it was for sanity's sake and in the end...it was the best decision to make.

"Charlie," Adler breathed and immediately scooped up the little girl and held her close.

"Mom Alice, where is Mommy?" Charlie questioned as she held onto Adler for dear life.

Adler kissed the little girl and held her tight. "She's just making sure some people are safe in another area...she'll be here soon, okay?"

"It's dark."

"It is."

"It's like a cave."

"It is."

"Are there monsters in this cave?"

There was a long pause before Adler finally responded. "You know that we'd never let monsters get you."

And that was true.

"We're still going to need a cure," Max spoke up. "But we can work on that...after we make sure that everyone in this building has the stopgap measure… We're going to need everyone as healthy as possible."

"I don't like shots," Charlie voiced.

"You want to hear a secret?"

"Uh huh."

"No one likes them, but they will help keep you from feeling sick."

Charlie was quiet for a moment. "And then I can draw?"

"I will find you pen and paper myself."

"Okay."

It was the simplest and sweetest thing that Alex might have seen from Max. It was dark and they only had the dim light that lit their faces with the flashlights that were pointed downwards, but Alex knew that he'd made a difference in how Charlie was coping with what was going on. He also was making the right choice in priority without her having to tell him or him being ordered by someone else.

"We could use Hamilton and anyone else you could spare for the injections," Alex told Adler.

"I'll send them your way."

She was handed a flashlight and then she headed back to the lab with Max. Alex just hoped that what they had would be enough to get them through until they found out how to combat this new threat.

"You were good with her," Alex said quietly as they re-entered the lab.

"Are you really shocked?"

"Yes, well...no," she amended. Alex remembered him with River, when they thought that they had a daughter. Max had been so good with her. Max had been better with their 'daughter' than she had been.

"I know I don't scream family man-"

"It's not that-"

"It is."

She was quiet for a moment. "Okay, it is."

"I might be selfish, Alex, but there _are_ things...people in this world that would and will make me a selfless person…" He was quiet and then very sad. "You...and I would have given anything for River...you know that. I would still give anything to give her back to you, if only she'd been a real child…"

And she knew that.

She believed that.

"Right now," Alex whispered as she took his hand. "This is enough."

* * *

TBC…


	4. Bleak

It looked bleak.

Nothing was going well.

"Has anyone heard anything from Henshaw?"

"Not yet," Lucy confirmed.

There were five spaces that were currently being occupied in the DEO's underground complex: control, med bay, barracks room, lounge, and temporary quarantine. Things were being contained as best as they could, it was also set up to try to keep people comfortable in order to allow for continued productivity within. The one thing they couldn't have was people freaking out, the DEO couldn't descend into chaos.

"Maybe we should go out and look for him," Benanti said. She was calm and oddly somber. It was more frightening than everything that was going on outside. "For all we know, their vehicle could have run out of gas-"

"They had a full tank when they left and extra on board," Adler interrupted evenly. "It has to be something else and _he_ would order us to stay put. Hold the fort down. Let the scientists and doctors work on the cure. Keep our people safe and keep hope up."

She was right, Alex thought as she just listened to it all. "We need power to run the equipment," Alex spoke up.

Adler gave a nod. "Torres already has a team pulling the generators, so that we're allocating the power exactly where we need it. There's no reason to run all of the electronics if that's down worldwide. But there are some things...like the lab equipment, we do need. We're also going to likely need to siphon gas from the vehicles, but if we get through this...I think we can all agree that it'll be worth it.

Alex wasn't going to argue with that.

"Let's get to work then," Adler commanded.

* * *

"Are you humming?"

"You can't prove it."

That made her smile. He was right, there was no light for her to see his face, but she knew he'd been humming. Right now, they were supposed to be concentrating on the cure. So far, they weren't getting far. They'd had more blood pulled from people they had there, but so far...no one seemed affected by the new strain (if there really was one), at least not yet. "What song is it?"

He was quiet. "I don't even know… It's something that my mother used to sing when I was little, it's the only thing that I really remember of her…"

Their eyes met and there was this sadness that lingered between them.

"We're going to find a cure," Max told her, successfully changing the subject. "Even if it's only for you."

Alex shook her head. "Max-"

"Look, you're supposed to focus on that little girl-"

"Charlie-"

"Charlie," he repeated with a wave of his hand. "Well, let me concentrate my efforts on you."

She couldn't argue that with him. They both had to have something...someone to focus on. Normally, it would be Kara for her, but her sister was thankfully unaffected by Myriad. Charlie was an easy one to place in that spot instead. "Okay," she just whispered.

"We should probably get the stopgap out to as many DEO agents as we can," he put out there. "Try to keep people as calm as possible." He shrugged. "And by _we_ , I mean _you_...these people like you...they're only... _tolerating_ me right now because I might be helpful when it comes to curing this…"

Maxwell Lord was a man who had done a lot of wrong in the world, but there was right in him...in his heart. She wanted to argue about it, to truly discuss what he'd just said, but there really wasn't time for that. She just nodded and finished up what she was doing.

* * *

"The storm is still coming."

Those words brought a great sense of relief as well as dread. Alex had been walking through the dimly lit control room when she'd heard him, she'd been going to ask Adler or Benanti (whomever she ran into first) to bring Charlie in for the stopgap shot. She didn't wait for anything else to be said, she moved towards him and hugged him. Alex could tell he was surprised, but that didn't stop her. J'onn held her for a moment and it was all she needed. "I'm so glad that you're okay," she breathed.

When they parted, he held onto her shoulders. "How are _you_ fairing?"

"We've got a stopgap," she explained. "It suppresses or at least _lessens_ the symptoms for a short while, but we _will_ find a cure."

"Our bigger problem is phase two of Myriad," Adler put in her two cents. "We really don't know _anything_ about it. _How_ are we going to cure it?"

"Right now I'm honestly more concerned about the storm," J'onn told them as he released his hold on Alex, his attention moving to Adler more. "We need to get this place buttoned up and prepare for a storm unlike any of us have ever seen before." He looked over to her. "Danvers, get back to work on that cure."

"Actually, I wanted to see if I could give Charlie the stopgap?" Alex asked as she looked to Adler.

"Yeah," Adler said. "Lara's in with her right now. i think they're in the lounge with the Harewoods."

Adler had been right, Charlie and Lara were with the Harewoods. If they were going to give the stopgap to as many DEO agents as possible, Alex was fairly sure that making sure the few kids that fell under them was the most important category. She examined them all for a long moment. She was looking for symptoms of the Myriad phase one and what she might assume the phase two might look like.

"I don't like shots," Charlie said.

"Me either," the Harewood kids said in practical unison.

"It's to make you feel better...and if I take a little bit of blood...that might help me make something else to cure the sickness," Alex tried to explain. She just hoped that she wasn't scaring the kids anymore than they already were.

" _Another_ shot?"

Alex gave a short nod. "I know, it's not fun, but it's better than getting so sick."

What else could they tell these children?

They were so young and so innocent, they didn't need to fear what was coming (at least no more than there was already fear in them). There was no need to burden them with the horrors of what Non and Myriad promised them, promised the entire Earth and human race. No, it was best to let these few be sheltered the best they could. This was their 'village' moment and they would do their best to stand together to keep these children safe...this family that had come together on its own.

There was no other thing they could do.

Alex looked into Charlie's little eyes and all she could see was little Kara.

"You're going to be safe...you all are."

* * *

It all hit so quickly and Alex had found herself desperate for fresh air. They'd sealed up the DEO for the incoming tempest, but she'd opened the easiest to reseal hatch and stepped outside. AS she squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a deep breath, she tried to push aside the harsh reality of the situation.

But it was too hard.

Even though in her head, evil had a face. Non. All she could think in that moment was all of the things that had happened that had gotten to that point. Tears rolled down her face as it all hit her, suddenly hopeless.

Wifi and cell signal were gone.

Myriad phase one was loose.

Water contamination.

Food supply burned.

The oncoming storm.

Fire raining down from the sky.

The electricity had gone out.

Myriad phase two.

And now...the solar eclipse.

There shouldn't _be_ an eclipse, that was the problem. They could _see_ the moon and it wasn't what was blocking the sun. There was only so much the scientists could do with the limited resources they had and with the limited resources they had and with the onslaught of the storm. All they knew was that if the obstruction _was_ caused by Non and it wasn't just limited to National City that they had a lot more to worry about.

"Alex."

Her name brought her so much relief because of the person it came from. "Kara," she breathed as she turned and hugged her sister. It felt like so long since she'd seen her and even if that really wasn't true, it was good to know that in all this chaos that two of the people she was closest to were unaffected by Myriad thanks to their alien DNA.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like we're not going to figure this out in time," Alex admitted as their hug ended. She knew that she should stay hopeful, that other people _needed_ her to be hopeful, but it was becoming harder and harder. Every time it felt like they were getting somewhere, they were hit by two extreme things all at once.

"We're going to figure it out," Kara said slowly. "All of us together." She was quiet for a moment, both of them taking in the changing sky above.

"James and Winn safe?"

"As safe as anyone."

"You could have brought them here-"

"They would have been too much of a distraction," Kara admitted.

"I hope Mom and Dad are okay," Alex whispered. She'd briefly talked to them, but that was before it all went to hell in a handbasket. She'd tried to act like everything was under control, but she was fairly sure her parents had seen through the lie.

"The storm is just in our region, so that's one less thing for them to combat," Kara pointed out. "They're going to do what they can to keep people comfortable and calm there." Kara looked right at her. "I thought about flying down there-"

"No," Alex waved off. They wouldn't want that. "You're right and them knowing the full truth of what's going on here will only cause them to worry more." The last thing she wanted as both of her parents in the middle of it all.

The rain was falling now and the sky was black and turbulent above. She didn't want to go inside, but she knew that she needed to. Alex needed to get back to work because there really was no other choice than for them to find a cure.

"I thought I'd find you two out here," J'onn said as he approached them from behind. "No stars to see with this storm, though."

He was right.

Normally, that might have calmed her a bit, to have the simple action that she and Kara used to do when they were younger. It was hard to think of how extremely drastically different their world was quickly becoming because of Non. Alex wasn't sure that when were able to finally reopen the doors of the DEO, that it would look the same ( _if_ they could open them again). She turned, telling herself that it really _was_ time to go back inside and get back to work.

"What if you use our DNA?" Kara asked.

She'd thought about that.

Alex turned and looked at her sister. "Kara-"

"If J'onn and I are immune-"

"Do you really want to risk Max having your DNA again?" Alex asked honestly. It seemed wrong to say, but these were two people that she cherished most in the world and she couldn't fathom them being hurt in any way because of Max on top of everything else that was going on. She wanted to see the good in Max, to know that he could be good...but she felt like this would be tempting his dark side.

"Don't we _have_ to trust him?" Kara questioned. "Aren't _you_ trusting him?"

Of course she was.

The questions sat with Alex and she wasn't sure how to answer it. She _did_ trust Max, but with Kara especially since he'd used her DNA in the past...she was more worried. "I don't think it would help in this case," she explained honestly. Alex didn't miss J'onn staring at her, likely reading her for the truth. "If it _were_ , I would have asked. I promise."

* * *

"You know what it'll mean if the solar eclipse extends," Max said as they worked. "I mean... _long term_...if the phase two plague Non unleashed doesn't kill us first."

Alex was trying not to think about it. Her head was already pounding, so she didn't need this added stress. "I know," she whispered.

Extended solar eclipse.

No solar power.

No sun.

No heat.

No light.

Plants would start dying.

No extra oxygen.

No oxygen scrubbers.

It could lead to an ice age-

She heard him let out a heavy sigh and she turned to look in his direction. Max immediately apologized, "I don't mean to be so doom and gloom-"

"Normally the news would do all that for us," she half teased. Max looked exhausted, almost pathetically so. Alex stopped what she was doing and grabbed him. There was so much to do and so little time, but they needed to take care of themselves in order to productively continue to work on the cure.

"Alex-"

She pulled him into the area they'd been using for breaks and rest. A bottle of water and a snack were immediately pushed into his hands. "When was the last time you had a dose of the stopgap?" she questioned.

"When you had it."

Alex stared at him and realized that he wasn't the only one feeling the effects of Myriad. "How many doses are ready right now?" she asked.

"Not enough."

Making a face, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "You need another dose-"

"So do you-"

"You're worse than I am right now," Alex pointed out. "In a while, I'll take a dose."

"We take it at the same time, Alex." It was a statement, there was not arguing the point. It wasn't just his tone, but also how he was looking at her.

That wasn't going to stop her from arguing her point with him. The children, especially, needed to keep from feeling so ill. Alex was determined to make her point to Max and get him to take his dose just the same. "Right now, I don't need it, but when I do...I promise that I'll take it," Alex said slowly and quietly. "I can't take a dose that someone else might need right now-"

He reached out and brushed hair back to tuck behind her ear. "Promise?"

"Promise," she repeated.

"I can't lose you."

Alex opened a water bottle for herself and sat down with him. "You're not going to." She knew that Max's focus was finding a cure for her, which she didn't agree with...but at the same time understood. "Remember? I'm harder to get rid of than people think."

He smiled at that. "I had never _really_ wanted to get rid of you…"

* * *

They had generators, but that wasn't enough.

"None of this is going to matter unless we have someone for sure who has Myriad phase two."

He was right.

"We don't even know what that looks like," Alex pointed out.

"Likely death…"

So far, they hadn't lost anyone else at the DEO, but they didn't know anything about the outside world. They'd been isolated, but now...it seemed like they couldn't remain that way. "We'd have to take measures…"

"Others out there are trying to find a cure, the same as us…"

"I know, but that doesn't mean that we need to endanger our people who aren't showing signs other than the phase one," Alex explained. All she could think was that they were sealed up there, so far...there were no more deaths...but out there… Who would go? Could they be protected? Could everyone else in there be protected when someone who was infected with phase two was brought back?

" _Or_ we just wait here...and let the food run out...hope that when we open those doors that we can continue to live... _if_ we figure out a cure to phase one…" Max sighed. "That's not even taking into account the fact that the virus might be able to survive-"

"I just-"

"I know that they're your friends, Alex...your family, but-"

"Kara and J'onn," Alex said. She was trying to keep calm. "They're immune to the virus. They could go out there and bring someone back…"

"I thought you didn't want to expose J'onn J'onzz?"

The only reason Maxwell Lord knew who J'onn J'onzz was was because of the White Martian...because of all those months ago when they thought they were living in the future. So far, he'd kept quiet about him. Max hadn't told anyone about J'onn J'onzz and Alex knew that it was because of her. "I don't," she whispered with a sigh. "But he doesn't need to be seen at all times… We could make it work."

"What about quarantine?"

"That's going to be harder… The storm hasn't passed-"

"I thought it wasn't as...violent?" Max asked slowly.

"The sun is still blocked."

"Yeah, that's really _not_ helping anything."

She felt the same.

"We're going to need a safe quarantine area-"

"Pull out the base blueprints," Max said. "We'll figure out something that'll work to keep the population here safe."

* * *

The last thing Alex remembered before hitting the floor was her head feeling like she was being stabbed. She'd thought it was just because she'd just gotten into a fight with Max over the quarantine procedures that they'd put in place for the phase two carrier, there had been screaming and a lot of energy used in it.

Everything was fuzzy.

There was a sharp pain in her arm.

Max was hovering over her.

Worry etched all over his face.

"Alex," he whispered with concern. "Alex, talk to me."

All she could do was blink.

This was going to be how it was going to end, she thought as she stared up at him.

His tears fell against her face.

He was breathing heavily, like he was trying to bottle in his sobs.

"Alex, I've seen how you sacrifice pieces of yourself...of your life for others. How you've done so much in your life because of your sister or because it was what your parents wanted for you," Max whispered. "I've seen how much you give to your job. Don't think that I don't see that."

Another shot, she realized.

Max hadn't had the stopgap.

He was giving her his dose.

Double dosing her.

" _For once_ , let _me_ be the self sacrificing one. Let me take the weight of the world onto my shoulders. If there's _one thing_ that I can give you to hold on, a glimmer of the future to fight for...think of how happy we were. We've had happy moments, right? Maybe not all of them were completely real...but they were there. I know they were there. Can you imagine future us? Happy? Changing the world. You changing me in big ways that my past self would probably cringe like hell at."

The stopgap didn't feel like it was working.

Her mind reeled.

She was only infected with phase one. This shouldn't be the end. There would be more pain. Alex waited, but it didn't come, she only felt the tendrils of the twisting nether pulling her closer to the void. Her eyelids heavy as she continued to blink to stay conscious.

Max was sobbing now. "You've got all of that to come."

She could hear Adler in the distance.

She could hear Kara.

She could hear J'onn.

They'd returned.

All she wished was to say goodbye to Kara and J'onn...a chance to just say goodbye… All those years ago she hadn't been able to say goodbye to her father, she hadn't had that closure. It had affected her her entire life. She didn't want that for her sister or any of her family. Alex wanted to be able to speak...to hold on a little longer. If only she could assure Max that this wasn't his fault-

Her eyes slid shut.

" _Alex_!"

She could still hear him.

" _You and me_ , _time and space_. _You watch us run_!"

* * *

TBC…


	5. The Cost

Her eyes fluttered open and a smile instantly spread across her face. There was so much peace in that moment as Alex lay on her side staring into the face that made her so happy. Shining bright blue eyes staring back at her frame by blonde hair and accented by a stunning smile. It was a moment she didn't want to ever have to leave.

"Mommy? I'm not tired."

"You're _so_ tired, Baby Girl," Alex whispered as she ran her fingers through the little girl's blonde hair. " _Too tired._ "

"I want to stay up with you, Mommy," the little girl pleaded as she tried to cover Alex with the same blanket she was covered up with. "All night. Me and Mommy."

"...Alex?!"

The voice distracted her and she looked for where there should be a door or a hallway. There were no exits, she realized. There was nothing past the bed and the little girl. Alex blinked rapidly.

It was a dream.

She looked back at the girl.

It wasn't River.

It wasn't her daughter either.

It was a dream.

"Alex?! Wake up! Please!"

Max.

It was a dream.

" _Please_ , _don't go_ ," the little girl whispered as she reached out to touch her cheek.

"I _have_ to," Alex whispered as tears rolled down her cheek. "This is just a dream-"

* * *

When she snapped out of it, Max was there staring down at her. His hands were on her face and he looked horrible, almost hysterical. Everything shook suddenly. Max shielded her and Alex wrapped her arms around him. "What happened?" she questioned through a whisper.

She'd been dreaming.

She didn't remember going to sleep-

"Don't leave me," he whispered as he held her.

Alex blinked rapidly as the shaking didn't stop. What was going on? How long had she been out? What was she missing? "What is it?"

"The storm."

It was too strong-

"Get the hells off of her and let's get everyone to cover!" Adler's voice boomed as she yanked Max off of her and then pulled Alex to her feet.

"Where else can we go?" Alex questioned.

"I'm not thrilled about this plan-"

"The Pipeline," Max supplied.

She looked up at him and could see that he was certain about his response. When she turned back to Adler, she could see it in the other woman's face, he was right. "Isn't that a bigger danger?"

"It's holding up better than the rest of the base," Adler told her with a shrug. "The world's gone to hell...we've got to make due with what we have…"

"What about the cure?"

"There's no use in a cure if we're all dead."

Max was grabbing her by the shoulders and leading her out of the lab now. "She's right," he said. Alex really didn't have time to process anything and gave in. As she watched everyone else being evacuated downward into the tunnel that led to The Pipeline that Cisco had created for them from parts of Fort Rozz, Alex felt no hope.

This was a last ditch effort.

Even if they survived the storm...Myriad was still out there.

Myriad was lethal.

There was no cure...not yet.

There wouldn't be if they couldn't work on it.

No cure.

No hope.

End of the world.

"Alex, we _have_ to go," Max told her as he pulled her along.

There was no choice.

* * *

So many people were huddled down in The Pipeline and people were trying to keep people in the center, but it just wasn't working well. They had so many civilians down there, people in leadership positions of the city. Alex had no idea how they were going to make this work...if people survived past this...since the DEO and their locations and what they did were all supposed to be secrets.

"You need to keep to the middle," she heard Benanti shout.

"Get the fuck back here!" Adler called.

Alex blinked and looked around. She didn't see Kara or J'onn. "We need to shut the barriers," she explained. It was like her brain was kicking into gear. DEO protocols and everything that Cisco had told her before popped into her head. "To keep these people safe...just in case a cell opens…"

She caught sight of Charlie standing with Harewood's wife and kids. That was good, they were all safe and they were all together. Her eyes caught sight of Benanti, Adler, Vasquez, Torres, Harewood, Lane, and so many others doing their jobs. This was what they did...keep people safe...and even at the end of the world...they were still doing it.

"Then let's shut them down," Max told her.

He hadn't moved from her side since they'd gotten down there, but she'd noticed that his hands had let go of her. Alex suspected it was because she'd started to act more like herself.

So, they did.

The Pipeline had been designed so that there were a series of barriers that could be brought down. Adler and Benanti were already manually taking care of the ones on the bridge that would form a formidable barrier between The Pipeline and the DEO proper. The Pipeline consisted of one of the rings from Fort Rozz with a bridge that led to the DEO, it also contained four tunnels that led to the center of the circle which was a heavily reinforced position with multiple barriers that could separate it from any outbreaks. J'onn was working on the barrier on right while Harewood was working on the one to the left. Alex moved to work on the only one left (the one opposite her would be taken care of by Adler and Benanti once they were finished on the bridge). The center position that they were all packed into had a series of controls that could operate the barriers with the proper codes, so it really was the best position.

Frustrated at the non-cooperating controls, she pounded her fist against the wall next to the panel. She looked over in Max's direction just as the lights flickered and an ominous straining sound resounded through The Pipeline. Her brain was distracted by the fact that when she'd looked over at Max, he had been giving Charlie something...a shot, but Alex swore that Charlie had just had a stopgap booster not long before-

The ground underneath her rumbled and she tried to brace herself up against the wall. Everyone was making one sound or another and panic was quickly breaking out amongst the civilians they had in their care. Max was hurrying towards her with Charlie in his arms. "Go back!" she told him.

"Not without you," Max said.

"It's not working-"

Charlie was immediately set down and Max went to work on the panel.

Alex sucked in a breath and watched Max work and then looked to Charlie, her mind still troubled and confused by what she'd seen. She had known that she'd been out, but she didn't think she'd been out for _that_ long. "What did you give Charlie?"

"I'm going to be better now," Charlie declared.

"Max?!"

"Do you want me to answer or get the barrier down?" he nearly snapped as their eyes locked.

"Both."

His eyes darted back to the controls and he started to pry open the panel itself. He was working and Alex could practically see the slight spark of anger drip from him as quickly as it fell away from her. Max sighed and turned to her, soft and thoughtful. "I told you, Alex. I'm in this for you." He paused for a moment and then looked down at the little girl beside them. "But I couldn't be in this completely for you, if I didn't try to cure the one person you were striving to save." With a quick move, he pulled a syringe from his pocket, stabbed her with her, and injected it into her as he kissed her. "And hopefully it works," he whispered against her lips.

A cure?

Max had found it?

Or something?

They had Myriad phase one.

So, did that mean that it was a cure to the phase one or-

Before her mind could continue to question the possibilities and before she could really come to grips with the kiss, their moment was disrupted by hostile rupturing pops followed by harsh hissing. Turning her head, Alex immediately found the source as people cried out from the opposite side.

The cells were opening.

"Max-"

Alex was almost immediately yanked backward, into The Pipeline, and she wasn't alone. Whoever had telekinetically pulled her back had also gripped Charlie as well. Instinctively, she scrambled for the little girl. Her arms immediately wrapped protectively around her as she tried to make her way back towards the safety of the center.

"Alex!" Max screamed.

To Alex's horror, she was jerked backwards again until she hit the open cell door. The entire while, she held Charlie and tried to keep her as safe as was humanly possible in that situation. The little girl was crying and had Alex gripped for dear life. It was then that Alex set her eyes on the alien that had caused them to become trapped in The Pipeline so far away from everyone else.

Trigon.

He was a demon, or at least that was how they classified him because that was basically what he looked like. He towered above Alex, slightly taller than a White Martian, red skinned with six eyes and horns. His telekinetic abilities were really the least of their worries.

"We're going to be okay," she whispered to Charlie. Alex had no idea if that was going to be true or not, but she was going to try her damndest to get Charlie back into the middle and on the inside of the barrier. Her eyes darted to Max, who was obviously trying to get the barrier operational, they would all be screwed without it working. "Get it down!" she shouted at him.

A ring of fire suddenly erupted around the exterior of the center section of The Pipeline. This was one of Trigon's abilities and it still wasn't the most dangerous one. Fire was definitely going to make things harder, but there was some relief when Alex realized that the only barrier that was still up was the one that Max was working on.

Trigon started to trudge towards where Max was standing. This was her chance, her opening. Positioning Charlie better, so that her face was tucked into Alex's shoulder, Alex started at her fastest speed possible in that situation, ready to jump through the fire-

Trigon suddenly growled and it was then as she was running towards the fire wall that she saw J'onn running towards them. Before she could shout for him not to reveal that he wasn't just Hank Henshaw, he was already transforming before her eyes. J'onn J'onzz in all of his green glory was already tackling Trigon.

"Alex!" Max shouted and seemed torn, like he was going to come help them.

"Just get it down!" she told him.

"Not without you inside!"

"I'll be there! Just do it!"

The barrier started its descent and Alex started her run to make the jump, but was swooped up by J'onn. She and Charlie kept safe from the fire ring, the three of them sliding under the barrier and towards the crowded center of the room. She got to her feet as the barrier was nearly completely down to turn towards Max. Her mouth opened to say something, but horror quickly crossed her face.

A gigantic red clawed hand snaked under the barrier and grabbed Max's leg, he let out a scream (likely in pain from the heat that Trigon's body emitted) as he was pulled out right before the barrier thudded to a close. Alex just stared stunned in the direction of the barrier as Charlie was pulled from her arms by Benanti.

Before she could even make the step towards the door, she was being pulled around and wrapped into a hug by J'onn as he transformed back into the form of Hank Henshaw. Alex tried to make sense of what had happened...to try to make sense of what was happening...she knew all too well what Trigon was capable of. The Pipeline shook violently and everyone immediately ducked down as the power that had been independently pumping through there by the tech that had been designed by Palmer Tech finally went out leaving them all in the dark.

Max.

All Alex could think about was the fact that there was no way he could have survived that alien infested ring, let alone Trigon's powers.

Maxwell Lord was dead.

He'd died a hero to them all.

Even if they won in the end, they'd lost.

At what cost?

* * *

TBC…


	6. Aftermath

The excessively loud thunderous groan made Alex put her hands over her ears. The sunlight that streamed in next brought a series of different sounds from people and Alex had to shield her eyes. She had no idea how long they'd all been in there. Long enough for anything battery powered to have died. J'onn had stayed close to her the entire time and now...all she could think was…

The storm had passed.

Max was still dead.

Non had won.

They were going to all die.

It took her a moment to take it in because the previously dark space was being suddenly flooded with radiant and blazing sunlight. All four sides were lifting and slowly the sights and sounds were becoming easier to tolerate. Everyone was getting to their feet and so did Alex, she felt J'onn move away and she couldn't take her eyes off of the doorway that she'd last seen Max at before-

Putting aside the hum of new found hope behind her, Alex took a step towards the now open area and though she wasn't even at the panel yet, she could already see that the entire section was completely burnt. It wasn't just slight burning, no...this was something far worse...far more severe...even the Fort Rozz cells had partially melted. Alex had no idea how they'd been so lucky (if that was even a true term) to have survived Trigon's wrath...but Max…

"Alex?"

It wasn't _his_ voice, so she ignored it.

"Alex?"

She took steps until she reached the panel, her fingers stroking it slightly as she stared out at the devastation in The Pipeline ring. That was the last place he'd been standing-

"Alex?!"

This time, Alex found herself being spun around on instinct she started to fight back. She wasn't in the mood to be bothered. Max was gone. Nothing else mattered now. Non had won. He'd won…

It took her a minute as she realized that there was no use fighting back until she realized the eyes she was staring into were her sister's. "Kara…" she breathed. It had been...well, she didn't know how long...and she'd just hoped that her sister had stayed safe.

"You're safe," Kara whispered.

"Max-"

"I know," she responded empathetically. "I'm so sorry, Alex…"

She watched as her sister looked into the devastation that Trigon had caused and she could see it in even Kara's eyes, no one could have survived that. "I _yelled_ at him right before…" Alex whispered through sobs as she looked off into the burnt rubble.

"Alex-"

Pulling free from her sister's grip, she moved into the ring and looked up. The entire top of The Pipeline's ring was likely missing if what she was seeing was any indication. It looked like there were still things on fire on the surface from Trigon. She sucked in a breath and looked around for any indication of Max-

"Alex, there's no time for this right now!" Kara shouted at her. Alex could tell from the look on her sister's face that she felt bad about it...about how harsh she had to be in that moment, but at the same time...the world kept spinning. "I'm sorry, but J'onn said that you could make a cure...that Max gave it to you. So many people have already died, Alex. I'm sorry about Max, but we're going to have to mourn him later."

And she knew Kara was right.

She hated that she was right.

It was so wrong.

* * *

The world kept moving around her and it was so hard for Alex to grasp in that moment that it could. Doctors Hernandez and Hamilton had worked with her in order to replicate the cure that Max had developed right before his-

"Aunt Alex? Can I sit in here with you?"

The little voice pulled her attention away from the resituating of the furniture and the monitors above Vasquez's head. Charlie Benanti was standing right there, hugging the doorway. There was no door and the glass had been swept up, it had been a casualty of the storm and Trigon's escape. "Sure, Sweetheart," Alex whispered, unable to say anything else to the little girl. No matter the mood, Alex was fairly sure that no one on Earth could ever say 'no' to that little girl, at least with her question.

"Everyone else is getting shots," Charlie said as she moved to the chair next to Alex after slinging a bag of 'fun size' chocolates up onto the table.

"Charlotte!"

Alex looked over, Charlie now at her side, to see Lara Benanti in a state of early panic. "She's here, Lara," Alex said quietly and evenly. "She's fine."

"Oh...I hadn't meant for her to bother-"

"She's not, I promise," Alex said. "And if she hangs out with me...then it looks less like I'm sitting here doing nothing...especially when there's so much to be done."

"Okay," Benanti said slowly before moving in and stealing a small handful of the wrapped chocolates. "But if you need to-"

"She'll be fine, I promise," Alex insisted.

"See! I'm fine with Aunt Alex!" Charlie said as she sat with her legs tucked under her and started to work on unwrapping the first chocolate.

As much as Alex had wanted to be alone before, she found herself loving having Charlie there. It was a different kind of company. "Do you know any good stories?"

"I can tell you _crazy_ Moms stories…" Charlie said with a tad more attitude than Alex had expected to come from the little one. "You wouldn't _believe_ what happens when I go to bed… Mom Alice moved Toothless from his position high up and put him where I had my unicorn guard…" She acted like it was the biggest atrocity to have ever befallen a child's bedroom. " _Everyone_ knows that Toothless _needs_ to be up high so he can fly down if there's a bad guy…"

"You would think she'd know that," Alex said as she popped a chocolate in her mouth.

"You should have a talk with her, Aunt Alex."

* * *

Time passed and Alex found herself talking to Charlie about pretty much anything. At one point, Charlie had even fully recited (and Alex was fairly sure it was even done so correctly) the entire 'Where The Wild Things Are' book. There had been different voices and Charlie had pretended to dance at one point, while still sitting in the chair. At one point, though, Alex found her attention being pulled to the door like she was being watched.

There standing on the other side were two people she hadn't expected to see, her parents. It had been some time since she'd seen them because they'd both been doing in Peru together, hopefully uncovering memories and making new ones. She blinked for a moment and realized that Kara must have brought them. It was likely that her sister had told them everything and they were there for her, but Alex just wasn't sure that she needed that yet...she wasn't ready to break down...to mourn...the shock was still very firmly there.

"Alex," her father greeted first as he moved into her lab, her mother following right behind.

Getting up from her chair, she hugged them both and then turned to Charlie. "Mom, Dad...this is Charlie Benanti… Charlie, these are my parents."

"Oh, Kara's talked about you," her mother said as she moved over to the little girl.

Charlie had figured out about Kara being Supergirl during a barbecue and had been sworn to secrecy. It had been easily done because she liked to tell people that she was such good friends with Supergirl. "My Moms talk about me a lot too, they think I'm not listening, but I hear them…"

"I was hoping that we could drive you home," Eliza said, turning her attention to Alex. "Kara's already flown by and says that it seems mostly intact."

"That's a window that got blown out, but we can handle that," Jeremiah piped up.

The truth was, normally Alex would argue with her parents. She'd fight being taken out of the DEO, seeing so much that she could be doing to bring things back to normal and then there were the things outside of the base...there was so much to do out in National City and the world… There were already DEO teams deployed working with other agencies along with superheroes worldwide. That's where Kara was...out...helping people. Alex just couldn't bring herself to snap out of it...she was aware of the fact that she wasn't motivated to help, which was odd for her...but she just couldn't...she was numb. She didn't know how to snap out of it. She'd done the best she could when she'd extracted her own blood to work on the cure.

A cure they still didn't know if it would work on both phase one and two.

It was all she'd been able to do.

That's why she'd wanted Charlie to stay.

To trick herself into thinking she was doing something.

"Can I come too, Aunt Alex?" Charlie asked.

Before Alex could say anything though, J'onn entered the room. He'd likely sensed what was going on. She'd always thought it was sweet how Charlie Benanti could always melt J'onn instantly, and Alex was fairly sure that it was because he'd rescued the Benantis from such an abusive situation...and he'd known Charlie nearly all her life. It probably hurt because of the memory of his own daughters, but then happy as well…

"Where is my tiny Agent Benanti?" he asked.

"Here!" Charlie said quickly as her hand went flying upward.

"I was hoping that you could help Agent Vasquez at the controls," he said quite seriously with his hands on his hips as he looked down at the little girl.

The little girl looked up at her as she hugged Alex. "Sorry Aunt Alex, I have to go."

"It's okay, Sweetheart," she said gently as she crouched down to hug Charlie properly. "You go and make sure people are doing what they're supposed to be doing… I'll expect a full report next time I see you."

Charlie left with J'onn without a second thought. Alex could tell that J'onn had wanted to say something, but instead, she just got a look. He was concerned, that was for sure, but Alex really wasn't sure she could take his touch, his words, or his kindness.

* * *

They'd taken her home to her apartment.

They'd wanted to do everything to make sure that Alex could do exactly nothing when she got there. They'd temporarily covered the broken window, her mother had picked up everything, and her father had gone to work with what little food she actually had in her kitchen. Alex didn't care. Alex didn't mind. Alex didn't even engage with them. She'd gone straight to her room and just collapsed into her bed, pulling the covers over her.

You're stronger than this, she told herself.

As she squeezed her eyes shut, though, all she could think about was River and then the little girl in her dream when she'd passed out...and Max's words…

 _"You and me, time and space. You watch us run!"_

It _wasn't_ them.

It was only _her_.

There was _no_ time machine.

 _No_ TARDIS.

It was a fixed point that she _couldn't_ rewrite.

She didn't _want_ to run.

She just wanted to sleep...

* * *

Time passed.

She didn't know how much.

Enough for the world to remember how it once functioned. The true test of that was turning on the TV and seeing CatCo Media in full swing. She'd barely seen Kara since Cat had decided that they had so much catching up to do, plus she was working with the DEO as Supergirl (or so Alex assumed).

She missed Kara.

As she lay in bed, her hand clutched around her locket as she stared at the clock on her bedside that was still flashing because she had never reset the time properly. Alex had finally made a decision, she couldn't hide in her bed...she couldn't be useless. This was her mourning period even though she'd hardly shed a tear since going home.

Pushing herself out of bed, she was suddenly on a mission.

Alex yanked clothes from her drawers and moved to the bathroom to shower. She couldn't stay here in her room any longer. With the shower started, she stalked back to her bedside and plugged in her dead cell phone before moving back to the bathroom. She didn't know if she was truly ready to just jump back into the world, but she was going to just have to be.

Max was gone.

It was harder, she felt, because they'd never solidified _what_ their relationship was in the end. Did he love her? She knew that without a second thought. He was completely enraptured with her. But her? Did she love _him_? She didn't know...it had been so complicated...and she'd yelled at him right before-

Alex completely broke down in the bottom of the shower. Wrapping her arms around herself and curling up under the hot spray, she just let it all out. As much as she hated it, she knew that she needed it. There was no going forward without mourning...properly.

* * *

"Tell me everything," Alex said as she moved to the table where her parents were sitting quietly. She was jittery, she didn't know why...maybe it was nerves...or maybe it was low blood sugar. Her mother had been forcing her to eat, but Alex couldn't remember when she last ate or what it was. "And coffee...I need-"

"You need food is what you need," her mother said firmly as she guided her to one of the chairs and pressed her firmly down until she sat.

Her fingers tapped against the table and she turned her attention to her father. "Tell me...please?"

"The fact that you're alive is a miracle," he whispered and reached out and stilled her hand as his covered hers. There was a warmth and a gentleness there and it was almost like he remembered. Normally, it was something she would have questioned, but it had to wait. She needed this to be a priority...her pushing forward with life...to keep her sanity. "But that's not what you meant," he said a moment later.

Her mother was shuffling through the kitchen now, apparently on her own kind of mission. "I'm making you eggs-"

"I don't have any-"

"I went shopping-"

"The stores are open?" Alex questioned in confusion.

"You've been in that room for nearly a week," Eliza told her. "They've gotten quite a few of the Fort Rozz prisoners that had been locked up in your Pipeline locked up."

"Where?" she questioned. That obviously wasn't the question that her mom had expected to hear from her lips. Alex _had_ to know.

The conversation shifted and her father started to talk. "Kara said that she has other friends who are superheroes out there? A lot of them are being temporarily housed in Central City...I think there's also some secret prison on an island near China?"

None of that rang any bells for Alex and she just blinked. "But they're locked up?"

"Yes," he said. "The Pipeline prison has been undergoing an obvious overhaul and serious repairs, so that they can once again house prisoners. Though, when I was down there the other day, I did hear General Lane trying to convince J'onn to send them to Project Cadmus...and that's not a place that I would want to send my enemy."

"What about Trigon?"

They were both quiet and she could only hear the sizzle from the pan. Alex looked between the two of them. She needed to know.

"Kara's had run ins with him...she and her friends have tried to apprehend him a couple of times, but even your sister came back injured-"

"Is Kara okay?" Alex snapped quickly.

"She's going to be fine," Jeremiah said gently. "But these prisoners need to be re-apprehended smartly… There needs to be plans carefully made and laid out."

Her mother set a rather large glass of orange juice in front of her and a piece of buttered toast. "Start with this."

"I need to go-"

"No," Eliza said firmly. "You're going to sit here, Alexandra, and you're going to eat breakfast."

It was a jolt to Alex's brain, slowing down everything that had been spinning in her head. She blinked and just stared at her mother for a moment. Alex tried to take in everything that had been said. "It's been a week?"

"Almost."

Sucking in a breath, she looked out the window and just tried to breathe.

"Talk to us, Alex," her father whispered gently.

"Max's funeral…"

"Since there were no remains recovered, it wasn't something that they felt the need to push ahead," her father explained. "It's in two days…"

"He'd have wanted his ashes sent up into space or...or...or something more than this," she whispered and squeezed her eyes shut. Alex had thought that she'd gotten everything out. The emotions still welled up in her, though. "I can't believe he's gone."

Her mother was hugging her and Alex held onto her, one hand gripping the locket as she wished her sister was there. She knew that she wasn't alone, but there was a different kind of comfort when it was her and her sister...but she realized...maybe in those moments...what she really needed was exactly what she had.

Trigon wouldn't be able to hide from her.

The world wasn't wide enough.

As she pulled away, she looked down and focused on breathing for a moment before looking back up at her mother. "I just need to get out today-"

"Of course," her mother said gently. "Breakfast first, though."

"The world was wide enough...for both of us...for us to be together…"

"I know," J'onn said.

Alex just stared at the section of Pipeline they were rebuilding. She hadn't realized it before, but really the section that was so severely damaged had been the far section that Max had been dragged into right before the barrier had slammed down. The section with Trigon's cell had taken the brunt of it. She could still hear, smell, feel...it all.

"I should have told him that I loved him-"

"Alex, he wouldn't have wanted you to live with regrets," J'onn told her.

Looking over at him as his hand rested on her shoulder, a comforting gesture, she let out a breath that she'd been holding. "I need to be here right now...and I need you to let me."

"We're going to find him, Alex," J'onn said confidantly. "All of us...together."

* * *

The End.


End file.
